


Just set me free (from my ) Home sweet home.

by Geek_is_my_middle_name



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Hurt Steve Harrington, I'm Bad At Tagging, Physical Abuse, Steve Harrington Has Bad Parents, Steve Harrington and Billy Hargrove but purely platonic, Steve Harrington-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:34:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21815248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Geek_is_my_middle_name/pseuds/Geek_is_my_middle_name
Summary: Steve Harrington had never in his life been so tired or in so much pain. So he leaves the mall and heads home to get some much-deserved rest after one hellish nightmare of a day, but when he arrives... well the nightmares never seem to end.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This takes place right after the Star Court Battle.P.S: Due to the fact that my heart couldn't take it, Hopper and Billy are both alive in this Fic.
Comments: 14
Kudos: 223





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Suggestions always welcome. Like seriously my dudes.  
> Title: (Partly) Song lyrics from Home Sweet Home by Motley Crue.

Steve turned the engine of his car off and sat in the driveway. This was officially the most exhausted that he had ever been. And Good God did he hurt. Like everywhere. On the bright side, his pounding head was no longer being slammed with the sound of sirens and flashing lights. He knows he should’ve probably taken up the offer of a ride to the hospital, but he really didn’t feel like explaining (lying about) how he got into this predicament to the hospital staff or his parents, it was just too difficult to execute a really good lie over the phone to someone two countries away. So he decided he’d sneak off away from the madness, grab the spare key hidden in the glove box of his car, and drive himself home. Driving home wasn’t the easiest task, but hell this wasn’t his first time driving with a concussion either. Memories of last year’s fiasco started to race around in his head, at least this year he didn’t have to directly face off against any monsters from the unknown. No, this year it was just human beings. Human beings who enjoyed the process of inflicting pain on him and even laughed about it. Yes, that was much better.  
As he pulled into his driveway he felt his heart drop to his stomach and fear-filled every inch of his body, from his feet that set firmly on the brake pedal to no longer styled and covered in blood scalp. Apparently, his parents had decided to make a surprise visit. Yep. Steve was fucked. While he had been forced to quickly mature over these past few years, he was still a teenage boy. A teenage boy who was quite messy. It’s not like he tried to be messy he just couldn’t help it. Most of the time his parents would call home about a day before their arrival, and alert him of their presence. And odds were they called while he was in an elevator being dropped to the pits of hell, and God knows there’s no phone reception there. Steve unbuckled his seat belt and opened the car door, grabbing a jacket from the passenger side seat to put on in hope of hiding some of the blood on his soaked uniform, then softly closed the door. He stumbled up the marble steps and inhaled a deep breath before opening the front door. Hopefully, his parents wouldn’t notice his new presence and he could just deal with the repercussions in the morning after a well needed eight-hour nap. He quietly padded across to the steps up to his room, looking around the house at the trash, cup, and dirty clothes scattered everywhere. Steve could hear movement coming from the kitchen; suddenly he was met with a looming presence coming from the upstairs bathroom. Steve met his mother’s stare with wide eyes, he stood there, right foot slightly resting on the last step.  
“Steven dear what has happened to your face”. She said with a weak smile.  
Oh boy. There goes not having to explain anything. “Umm. I jus-“  
“ Get to the bathroom and clean yourself up, and then come down for dinner,” she said.  
“I’m actually not really hungry at the moment, not really feeling that well. I think I’ll just go lay down”.  
“Nonsense your father and I have been waiting for your arrival. I’ll see you in the dining room in ten minutes”. She replied as she swiftly walked by him and descended down the steps.  
Steve opened his bedroom door and closed it behind him. Taking a deep inhale of breath as he kicked off his shoes and began to strip. As he walked into his bathroom he noticed just how much damage the Russians had inflicted upon him. Bruises covered the entirety of his torso; ranging in many different colors and forms, and along with that were deep cuts and slashes. He entered the shower as he turned the hot water on. He stepped into the flowing warmth and squeezed his eyes shut tight as the water hit him, blood running off of him making the water a distinguished color of pink as it swirled down the drain. Steve winced as he ran a hand through his hair, aggravating the cut on his scalp and the burning sensation his fingers were now putting him through once again. The Russians had wanted answers. Answers he wasn’t willing to give, but he’d be lying if he said that he didn’t want to scream as they ripped the nails from his fingers. Steve scrubbed his body as clean as he could and climbed out of the warm haven. He began to get dressed and style his hair in a somewhat okay way. His mom had given him a time limit and if his parents disliked anything more than not looking presentable, it was being late. Both tarnished their professional and perfect reputations. Steve gave one last look at his beaten face as he opened his bedroom door and walked down the stairs.  
As he walked into the dining room he could hear classical music being played from an expensive sound system, much different than the usual rock music that was normally being blared when they were away. His parents were both sitting on opposite ends of the table, something he never understood. They sat with their backs straight with a plate and wine glass placed in front of them. Untouched. Steve walked over and sat at the only other seat with a plate in front of it, right beside his father. As soon as he sat down his parents began to eat. Neither of them saying a word. Steve picked up his fork and began to stab into the dry chicken, finding it hard to swallow. He really wasn’t hungry, but he didn’t want to hurt his mother's feelings and get in any more trouble than he already was. They sat there in silence for what felt like an eternity before all of the plates were cleared. He was getting more and more anxious by the minute wondering when the topic of the disastrous looking house would come up.  
“So Steve,” his father said. Steve stilled ready for outrage.  
“what do you have to say to your mother for fixing this lovely dinner for us.”  
“Oh Ummm. Thanks, mom. It was really really good”. He replied. That was definitely not how he thought that was going to end.  
“Oh it’s nothing really” she stated. “But I am fairly tired so I think I’m going to go and get ready for bed”.  
“Alright dear, that’s fine. Steven and I will clean up from dinner”.  
As he watched his mother climb the stairs to her bedroom he could feel his father’s glares on the back of his head. He turned as his father abruptly grabbed his plate stood and crossed over snatching his mother’s plate then walked into the kitchen. Steve grabbed his own plate and carefully followed his father to the door.  
“Dad?”. Steve stood there cautiously waiting for a response.  
His dad turned from the sink and walked over grabbing a fistful of Steve’s hair and pulled him through the kitchen, through the hallway into the living room.  
“What is this shit, Steven?” exclaimed his father, gesturing towards the messy scene, thrown throughout the hall and spilling into the living room.  
“ When I come back home I should find this house in pristine order, not looking like a fucking pigsty!”  
“I know dad, I didn’t know you were coming home or I would’ ve cleaned it up, but it’s really not that- ”. Suddenly his father released his hair, only to grasp Steve by the throat and slam him against the wall.  
“It’s not even what Steven?” his dad snarked. “That Bad?. This is my damn house, I get to decide what happens to it, just like you’re my son and I decide what happens to you,” he said as he punched steve in the face.  
He began to squeeze his hand harder and he continued snarling at steve, just inches away from his bleeding face. Staring directly into his eyes as Steve tried desperately to receive oxygen.  
“I will not have some disappointment like you disgracing everything I have worked for.”  
Steve began to see spots Steve began to weakly plea for his dad to stop between the rough gasps for air that were already aggravating his already agonizing ribs.  
His dad rolled his eyes. “I swear son, it’s like you want me to hurt you,” his father said sighing aggressively and releasing the death grip around his neck. Steve started taking in big gulps of oxygen as he slid down the wall, unable to support himself at that moment. With that, his dad turned on his heels and walked into the kitchen. Steve leaned on the wall trying to catch his breath and trying not to cry. Crying was in his father’s eye’s weakness, and weakness was “not tolerated in this family”. As steve wiped the blood off of his face, he heard crashing coming from the kitchen. He grimaced as he pushed himself up the wall. He started to make his way to the room using the wall for support as he stumbled down the hall, he stopped in his tracks as he noticed his mother standing in the doorway with a glass of water in her hand. She looked at him blankly before making her way up the stairs and closing her bedroom door behind her. She had seen it all and done nothing. He wasn’t surprised, she never did.  
Steve sauntered into the kitchen now realizing what the previous crashing noise had been. Trash and old food from the fridge could be seen strewn across the floor and most of their plates, although clean had been tossed into the dirty sink.  
His father appeared in front of him.  
“I expect every room in this house to be in immaculate condition when I wake up to leave for my conference in the morning” he stated before going to join his wife in their bedroom.  
Steve stood there for a few moments. Stunned and completely defeated. He was too tired for this shit. But knew there would be immortal hell to pay if he disobeyed, and at this point, he didn’t know how much more his injured body could take. So he rolled up his sleeves and got started on what was going to be a long and miserable night.


	2. Making Breakfast (Got a candle by my window it keeps me warm at night).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after... Steve just wants to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title is a song reference from a song called Making Breakfast by a band called Twin Peaks. You should go give em a listen.

As Steve got to work cleaning up the mess from dinner (and his father), he began to feel worse and worse. His fingers burned as he stuck them in the scalding water and set to hand wash every single dish. There was still an almost unbearable pain with every inhale of breath, and now thanks to his dad, he had a busted lip and sore throat to along with the swollen eye, bruised ribs, and missing fingernails. The dishes alone, what with washing, drying, and putting them correctly in their assigned place took about two or more hours.  
After, he moved on to the hallway and living room, picking up the clothes, taking them to the laundry room, and throwing them into the wash. Next, he collected the trash and brought it to the kitchens trash can. He grabbed a broom and began to sweep the floors before filling up a bucket from the hall closet with water and squeezing some floor cleaner in. When he had finished sweeping, mopping, dusting, drying, and folding his clothes he had around an hour until the time his father normally woke up for work.  
He walked upstairs to his room, collapsed on top of his covers, and closed his eyes.  
What felt like seconds later, his father walked into the room, perfectly dressed in a suit and tie with polished leather dress shoes. Steve struggled to sit up on his bed, keeping still, unsure of what was to come.  
"I'm leaving for my conference. Your mother is going out to meet some friends soon. We should both be back by 5:30 and expect to see you here." He paused. "Your mother worked hard to cook dinner for you last night; the least you can do is come downstairs and fix her breakfast before she leaves." His father said before closing his door harshly.  
Steve lowered himself back down on the bed for a moment, staring blankly at the roof before hearing his father's car start outside. Groaning, he rolled off of the bed, an action his ribs did not approve of at all. He glided to the door and down the steps. When he reached the living room, his mother sat in front of the TV, watching the morning news that was currently breaking the news about Star Court Mall incident, a gas pipe leak.  
Steve moved to the kitchen, grabbing a carton of eggs and a pack of bacon from the fridge and pulling two pans from the cabinet. He flicked the stove on medium as he cracked the eggs into one pan and began whisking the contents. As he waited for the bacon to cook, he grabbed two pieces of bread and placed them in the toaster. When everything was done, he took a plate to his mother. He sat down beside her and began to slowly nibble on his own plate as the headlines rolled by. When they were both done, he grabbed the plates and took them to the kitchen to begin cleaning up after the meal. When he finished drying and placing the last dish in the cabinet, he heard the doorbell ring. His mother ran into the kitchen.  
"That's my ride, dear. See you around five."  
"Yeah," Steve faintly whispered.  
"I would introduce you, but-" she gestured towards Steve's beaten face "well, we can't have them seeing you like that." She added as she turned and walked out the front door.  
Steve sighed loudly and started back towards his bedroom.  
"Yeah, we'd hate for my bloodied face put a dent in the Harrington family name." he grumbled.  
Steve would like to say that those types of things didn't bother him anymore. He should be used to it by now, but the truth was it still really hurt. His mother had rushed out of the house to keep her friends from seeing his injuries. These were the same injuries that she hadn't even bothered to ask the origins of. She had set on the coach and learned that his place of employment had literally exploded, and she never said anything. Just like she never mentioned anything when he came home last night with a broken face and blood covering his uniform, she just told him to "clean himself up," like he was a toddler that had just rolled around in the mud. God, his parents pissed him off so much sometimes. They would leave him alone for months on end, only calling every once in a while, his guess to make sure he was still alive. Then, they'd come home for a few days, and his dad would rough him up a bit to teach him lessons of how to be a real man. While his mom ignored everything, walking around half of the time completely buzzed off her rocker from alcohol or pain meds, only caring about the family's appearances. Then they'd leave again, completely ignoring his existence until the cycle started back again.  
A faint and familiar noise coming from his nightstand drawer drug him out of his thoughts on how his parents were… different than others. He walked over and grabbed the walkie talkie that had been gifted to him from Dustin.  
"Steve?" "Steve, come in, Over." "Come on Steve answer to Mother fuc—"  
"I'm here shit head what do you need?" "Are you in trouble?"  
Fear began to bubble in Steve's chest as he remembered that the Russians knew his name. Even if they were told they all died last night, there's always a possibility, and Steve gave them his name!  
"No, and you needed to say over." Steve felt his heart rate go down a little as he rolled his eyes, well the one that wasn't swollen shut.  
"Steve, we're all good, but we're having a meeting at the Byers in 45 minutes. Dr. Owens will be there, probably just the normal NDA's we gotta sign. But I need a ride. Over".  
"Okay, Kid I'll be there in 25."  
"Alright, see you soon. Out."  
Steve sighed and walked over to his dresser and pulled out a pair of blue jeans and the loosest t-shirt he could find. Well there goes any chance of him catching some shut eye.  
Running on one hour of sleep and what breakfast he was able to keep down, he walked out the door and started the drive to the kid's house. He pulled into the driveway as Dustin walked out of his house, sending a quick farewell to his mother and her cat before closing the door behind him. Dustin flung his backpack into the floorboard as a got into the passenger side seat.  
"Woah! You look even worse than last night," he said.  
"Oh, screw off Henderson," Steve remarked as he put the car in drive and pulled away.  
Steve stole a quick glance of himself in the mirror. Okay, so maybe the kid had a point. The bruises and cuts on his face, especially the ones his dad had gifted him with, had made themselves more defined and colorful since last night. Although the color could have something to do with the fact that he looks extremely pale. His hair was also a mess on top off his head, the usual styled to perfection hair hadn't even been touched since last night before dinner, and even then, he had just combed through it enough to please his parents. As he pulled into the Byers drive, he put the car in park and pulled himself out of his seat. Once inside, he realized they were the last to arrive. Nancy and the kids were already there along with Billy Hargrove. He tried to stifle a whimper as he sat down in the floor, leaning up against the Byers couch.  
"Steve, honey, are you okay?" Ms. Byers questioned in such a loving voice.  
"Yeah, you look like death in a paper bag," Mike quipped up.  
"Mike!" he heard Nancy snap.  
Steve looked at Ms. Byers. "Yes ma'am, we're.. all good" he answered.  
She smiled at him, wearily before walking into her kitchen. Moments later, she stood next to him a glass of water and three Tylenol capsules in her hand. He accepted them and thanked her as she walked away. "No problem, dear, let me know if you need anything else."  
Soon Dr. Owens was explaining everyone the extensive details of the cover story they were to stick to and started handing out the NDA's, which basically just pieces of paper from the government saying 'hey we fucked up and you happened to find out, now you have to promise to not tell a damn soul', which was fine with Steve. He didn't want to think about the madness that would come from the public finding out that their town was being terrorized by not only monsters from another dimension, but it had also be infiltrated by Russians. After he signed his, everyone started to talk about all that had happened yesterday, and Steve felt his eyelids slowly began to close as the buzzing sound of their conversation grew fainter and fainter.  
Steve awoke with a startle. It took a moment for him to realize where he was before he heard the familiar sound of the kids arguing. Over what? Who knows?  
Steve winced as he tried to set up, trying to remember when he fell asleep. He also realized someone had draped a blanket over him while he was asleep, Probably Ms. Byers.  
"Well look who finally came back to join us in the land of living". Steve looked to his left to see Billy lying on the couch opposite him, like Steve, a blanket covered him.  
"Did you have a good nap, Princess?" Billy stated with a weak smirk.  
Steve chuckled. "Yeah, I did. I feel a lot better,".  
"Well yeah, I would too if I took a six and a half-hour long nap" he replied.  
Steve's head snapped up. He then caught a glance of the TV, now noticing the 6 o'clock news playing in the background, displaying yet another piece on how a gas pipe completely destroyed the Star Court Mall of Hawkins.  
"Shit. Shit. Shit. I am so dead" He said as he quickly jumped to his feet.  
The string of curses and quick motion, making him a bit light-headed as well as getting the attention of the rest of the household.  
"Dustin, do you have a ride home?" he asked.  
"Well yeah, I'm actually spending the night here tonight so-"  
"Good cause I have to go" he said, turning on his feet.  
He ignored the concerned looks and remarks as he dashed out of the house and to his car.  
He was so screwed.


	3. Facing The Music

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve leaves the Byers residence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took a lot longer to write this chapter due to the craziness of the holiday season. 
> 
> Comments and suggestions very much welcomed and asked for :)

Chapter Three: Facing the Music  
As Steve started his car and put it in reverse he saw Dustin run out of the door, he could faintly hear him calling his name from outside of the door asking for him to stop the car and come back inside. The look of confusion and panic on that kids face made every bone in Steve’s body ache to stop the car but he couldn’t, he was already completely fucked and he didn’t want to make the anger his parents would be harboring grow any bigger. So he continued on, ignoring Dustin’s protest from outside of the car. He drove down the road in complete silence (only slightly) speeding as he did so. Every moment that he drove closer to his house, he could feel his heartbeat gradually get quicker and quicker until finally, he pulled into his drive. He turned off the car and got ready to face the music.

Dustin’s POV:   
Once the meeting with Dr. Owens came to an end all the kids went off in the kitchen to begin a new game of D&D. This resulted in the two adults and three teenagers to move to the dining room, except for Billy who remained on the couch to rest and watch TV. As Dustin walked into the dining room he started to ask Steve if he wanted to join, but he found them in the floor leaning against the couch and wall, quietly sleeping. Good, Dustin thought, Dustin wasn’t lying to Steve earlier when he said Steve looked even worse than yesterday. Steve had looked like he was ready to drop at any second so it was good to see him resting. Dustin walked over to the couch and pulled a blanket off to drape over Steve. He then walked back to the dining room and sat in his seat and began playing the party’s favorite game. What must have been a couple of hours later, a commotion brought his attention from the intense development in their game to the living room. Suddenly Steve was in the room and asked him if he could get a ride from someone else. What happened next really worried Dustin: as soon as he confirmed that he was spending the night there Steve bolted out of the door with a face full of panic. Dustin tried to get Steve to stop as he ran after him but before he knew it Steve was already out the door, in his car, and pulling out the driveway. Dustin sauntered back into the Byers’ house and noticed the same looks of confusion and worry on everyone else’s face that he was currently consumed with. 

“Okay…That was weird” Dustin heard Lucas say.

“yeah,” he whispered. 

“Oh, I’m sure he’s fine sweetheart. He’s just late... or… something.” Joyce tried to reassure them with a weak smile. 

Billy’s POV

Yeah. Steve was late for something. But the look on his face was anything but okay. That look was something he was all too familiar with. And the “my dads going to kill me” he whispered (not so quietly) under his breath definitely told him that he had more in common with the former king than he originally thought. Maybe there was more to him than a pretty boy grin and a bottle of hairspray. 

Billy doesn’t know why he did what he did next. But he got up and left too. Heading in the same direction Steve had quickly sped towards moments before. 

As Billy pulled on the street of the Harrington house he deeply sighed. He should just rive back to the Byers house, pick up Max and go home. But he needed to know. Something about the fear he had recognized in Steve’s eyes, pulled him to this house. Billy shut his car off a few houses down and started walking towards the Harrington household. As soon as he reached the driveway he could already hear loud angry voices from inside the home. He started to walk around the left side of the house and could hear a male voice, what he concluded to be father Harrington.

“I swear son,” Crash “One would think you would’ve learned a lesson on how to take responsibility, how to act like a real man last night” thud “ but no, you find yet another way to disappoint me” 

Billy walked further so that he was standing with a view through a window. He saw Steve kneeling on the ground blood pouring from his already fucked up face, eyes squeezed shut with pain. 

“I told you to be here when I got home. And you arrive more than an hour late”

“I’m sorry dad, I lost track of time, I wasn’t trying to ----.” 

Steve had stayed completely silent through all the other hits he had taken, but he cried out as his dad kicked him in the ribs. 

“Wasn’t trying to what? Directly disobey me? 

Steve opened his mouth to defend himself but quickly clamped his mouth shut as his dad started up again. 

“Do you know how worried your mother was? Huh? I mean Lord Steve she’s already lost a child thanks to you. It’s like you don’t care about her feelings at all” he finished stating as he kicked Steve again. He picked his tumbler of alcohol off of the table, scoffing at his son who was currently wide-eyed and struggling to breathe on the floor, before walking out the door. 

He continued to watch Steve who pushed himself up and leaned his head against the wall closing his eyes. Billy watched as Steve grabbed onto the side of the table and slowly stood up, turning and walking to the sliding glass door to walk outside. Billy slowly followed to the edge of the house where he watched Steve collapsed into a pool chair. 

Billy paused, wondering if he should make his presence known. Sure he and Steve weren’t by any means close, but he somewhat understood Steve’s situation; Steve had looked really bad earlier and was looking even worse now after the beating he just took from his dad. Billy had also heard a lot of stories of how Steve had willingly put himself in harm's way to protect Max and her friends, not giving them up even when he was being tortured by those Russian dudes. So Billy made up his mind and started walking towards the pool.

He rounded the corner and cleared his throat.

Steve’s head shot up.

“Hargrove? What the hell are you doing here?”

That was the question wasn’t it “Well uhh. I wanted to make sure you were okay. You scared the hell out the kids back there. So I left after you and stayed outside till you walked out.” 

“Oh”

Silence filled the air for a few moments before Billy moved to sit beside Harrington. 

“You said you stayed out here till I walked out,” Steve said.

“Yep”

“So does that mean you…. You saw or heard….”

“Your dads a real piece of shit” Billy interrupted. 

Steve’s breathing hitched.

“But hey, so is mine, so.” He said.

Those were some pretty hard hits you took a second ago, and you already looked like complete shit” Billy stated jokingly, trying to lighten this awkward situation.

“Yeah, Yeah,” Steve said 

“No, but seriously. You okay”

“Believe it or not Billy that isn’t the first time I’ve took a beating like that. In fact the last time... it was from you”. 

Billy’s demeanor stiffened. “I never apologized for that. You didn’t deserve that.”

“Yeah. Well.”

“Max told me about that night, now that I’m finally in the loop on whatever this cluster fuck is. So thanks for watching out for her.”

Steve started to grin at Billy.

“What?” Billy asked.

“I knew you cared about her. I mean you act like she’s some annoying pest you can’t get rid of, but I knew you cared.”

“Well she really is some annoying pest, but yeah I guess I do a little. What about you? I mean I didn’t expect King Steve to be so good with kids?” Billy asked.

Billy instantly saw as Steve instantly deflated, Sadness filled his eyes before he looked away. 

“I had a baby Sister”

“Amy”

“I got her killed” Steve stated. 

“Both of them,” he added weakly as his gaze moved to the diving board on the far side of the pool.


	4. Chapter Three: Clean Up Round Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a very short Chapter, Sorry. It snowed over the weekend and the internet went out so I couldn't work on anything. But I guess a short chapter is better than no chapter?  
> Side note of complaining: School started back today, and I have no classes with anyone I like.

After, Steve quickly stood up stating he needed to go clean up his mess inside. Billy nodded, understanding Steve was done with this conversation and probably wondering why he gave away that information in the first place. Billy stood explaining he needed to go retrieve max anyways and head home. 

Billy watched as Steve walked inside and closed the sliding glass door behind him. Billy walked around the side of the house and down to his car. On the drive back to get Max, Billy was completely stuck in his own thoughts. If you had told him a week ago that he would be worrying over Steve “The Hair” Harrington he would’ve told you to screw off, most likely after beating the crap out of you. However, a week ago he hadn’t believed in monsters.   
He had thought that Harrington was some stupid rich boy with perfect hair and perfect life. Now there were so many secrets being uncovered about who Steve Harrington really was, and Billy wasn’t quite sure what to do with this newfound information. 

Billy pulled into the Byers driveway and as soon as his headlights shined through the window there were six pre-teens standing out on the front porch. 

“Oh. It’s just Billy” he heard the curly-haired kid say as soon as he stepped out of the car.

“Did you go see if Steve’s okay?” he heard his step-sister ask. Billy kept silent as he started to walk into the household. 

“You did, didn’t you?”

“What was that about?” 

“Is he okay?”

Questions were being thrown at him from all sides. Turns out these kids cared for Steve about as much as he appeared to care for them. 

“None of your business, now get your stuff Max, I’ve got to get you home soon,” Billy stated giving her a look.

Surprisingly Max didn’t argue she just huffed out a brisk “Whatever” and grabbed Lucas’s hand to go do as he had told her. 

Billy walked into the kitchen and thanked Ms. Byers for allowing them to come over, and smiled politely as she told him that “they were always welcomed”. 

As Billy started to walk out of the house with Max in tow he heard the rest of the kids telling Max to have her walkie on hand once she got home.

The entire ride home Max tried to ask about what happened when Billy left. Ever since Billy had been drug into this mess they had grown closer, not like Jonathan and Will close, but close nonetheless.

None of whatever just happened was his story to tell. There’s a reason none of it was public in the first place. The same reason none of his was either. So, every time she would try to ask, he would shut her down immediately once again stating it was none of her business

Which she totally disagreed with, Steve was her friend, and he had saved her life countless times, now it was her turn to make sure that he was okay. Once she got home and finished dinner, she called the rest of the party and began to devise a plan to make sure their favorite baby sitter (what they had now identified him as) was okay.   
After Steve had excused himself inside and watched Billy leave he started to sweep up the pieces of glass that had been sprayed across the floor when his father threw a cup at him. To say his father had been mad would be an understatement.

As soon as he got through the door his father was standing in front of him demanding an explanation for why he hadn’t been in the house, and for why he had disobeyed a direct order. Steve knew there was going to be hell to pay, he was still hurting from the Russians and the beating his dad had given him the previous night and his injuries were never going to heal if this kept up. 

The thing is that Steve was used to pain, physical and emotional. Between his father’s regular beatings and degrading statements he had grown a pretty good pain tolerance, not to mention a fairly strong “give no fucks about anyone or their opinion/feelings” attitude. He had been called some pretty rough things through his early high school career but he was the “King” then, so he convinced himself that it really didn’t matter. 

Then he’d got involved in this whole mess and it changed him in more ways than one. He realized he needed to change. Standing in that ally way making fun of Byers’ pain was when it hit him (well that and Byers). He wasn’t happy with who he was and hadn’t been for a long time, not since Amy. 

That what has hurt the most tonight: the reminder from his father. That he was the reason she wasn’t still alive. The only good thing in his life, and the most genuine, kind, and innocent member of the Harrington family. Gone, because her big brother wasn’t capable of protecting her. 

That’s why Steve was so hesitant the second time the monsters came around. He was tasked with taking care of a couple of kids, whose obvious goals were to constantly put themselves in immediate danger. Between the demodogs, that asshole Hargrove, and the tunnels from hell he was so afraid that he would fail as he did in the past. He had enough blood on his hands as it was, without adding four pre-teens to that list. 

Once Steve finished round two of cleaning up the living room, this being the second time in less than twenty-four hours, he got something to drink and a granola bar and walked up the stairs avoiding the two people stationed in the living room. 

He closed his bedroom door, setting his glass of water on his nightstand he slipped off his shoes and clothes putting on a pair of sweat pants and one of his old basketball shirts, not having the effort to take a shower, even though he should probably wash off the blood off of his body from the new wounds and the old one that began to bleed again from his fathers brutality. He collapsed on to his bed and stared at the ceiling, knowing sleep would be impossible with the wild thoughts running rampant around in his mind. He couldn’t believe that Billy Hargrove had been at his house.   
Not only did he witness him getting his ass handed to him by his father, but Steve also told him something he had never told anyone else, not Tommy, not even Nancy. Steve had no idea why he had said it, why he would give away something that personal to someone who he despised. He also had no idea what Hargrove would do with this new information. At least he wouldn’t have to find out for a while. The first thing his father did before throwing punches was take Steve’s keys, that way he wouldn’t be able to leave. This meant he was stuck…alone…with his parents…for who knows how long. Steve still hadn’t figured out when they would be leaving, but then again the last few interactions with his parents hadn’t seemed like ideal times to ask.


	5. Heart to Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Billy have a heart to heart. Billy learns the whole story behind the secret Steve revealed to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welpity Welp I'm still alive. I honestly struggled so badly to finish this... hence why it wasn't updated since January. Sorry, my dudes.

Believe it or not, Steve had a hard time trying to fall asleep that night, and the night after that. Two days later Steve was completely exhausted from the never-ending list of chores, and the constant tension and anxiety that resulted from being trapped in his house. Of course, the tension and anxiety came from his dad's constant belittling and not so friendly touches.

After three days of being on lockdown, he was awakened early (to his standards) by a quick-paced tapping on his door. 

“Steve,” his mom said “You have some visitors”

“Okay, I’ll be down in a second”

Visitors? Who the hell? He quickly stood up out of bed making his surroundings spin for a moment before he gathered himself and went searching for something to wear. Once he was dressed he flung his bedroom door open, as he descended down the stairs he halted and held his breath as he heard some familiar voices conversing with his father.  
As he round the corner into the kitchen spotted all of the Middle school Party members sitting at his kitchen table, a plate of cookies in front of them. They sat there rambling on about God knows what with his father who kept nodding and smiling in response as his mother went about asking if any of them needed any more refreshments. 

“Oh, here he is” he heard his father say once realizing his presence in the doorway.

“Steven dear, you never told me you were a baby sitter of such wonderful kids” his mother exclaimed.

“Oh yeah, well….I..yeah. Umm what are you guys doing here?”

“You kinda went all dark side on us, we just wanted to come by and check on you” Will stated with a small smile.

Will had always been very quiet, but it was moments like this that Steve saw how genuine and kind the young boy was and he smiled back.

“Oh well that’s very sweet of you kids, Steve’s doing good, we’ve just been keeping him busy around the house lately” his mom answered quickly.

Busy around the house. Sometimes it shocked Steve how easily his parents could pull a good cover-up out of thin air like it was nothing. 

“Well if you’ll allow him, we also came to ask if Steve could hang out with us for a little while today, we’re thinking about going to the arcade for a few” Dustin said. 

Steve was struggling to make a quick excuse as to why he couldn’t when 

“Well I’m sure Steve could get out of the house for a little while” 

Steve spun around to the voice behind him as the kids cheered and started to thank his parents.

His father walked over to him and dropped his car keys in his hands, turned, and walked over to stand next to his mom. 

“This is actually perfect timing. We actually have to be leaving for a business trip later today. We will probably be gone before you get back.” His father plainly stated.

“Okay… Well then let’s go” he said turning to his parents “I guess I’ll see you guys later” 

Grabbing his jacket Steve followed the kids out the door. Once he was outside he realized that the kids hadn’t come alone. Standing beside his car in the driveway was Billy Hargrove. Steve froze for a second thinking about the last time he had seen Billy, what he had witnessed, and what Steve had confessed. Billy looked up and nodded before turning around and getting into the driver's seat of his Camaro. Steve unlocked his car and did the same as the kids finished arguing over who would be riding with who. Once all of the kids were in their determined car and seats they began the ten-minute ride to the arcade. The entire time Steve couldn’t hold his focus on anything the kids were rambling on about. All he could think about is what would happen once the kids went inside and it was just him and Billy. Steve had told Billy something he had never told anyone before, ever. 

The two cars pulled into parking spaces right next to each other and all the kids started to pile out. Conversations and plans about who was playing who were being formed, and Dustin and Max started a friendly argument about who was going to be beating who’s highest score today. As the kids ran into the arcade, acknowledging the time limit Billy had shouted at them Steve stilled, leaning against the hood of his car. Billy round his car and copied Steve offering him a cigarette as he did. Steve stared at shoes in silence as he inhaled a deep breath of smoke, releasing in a sigh. As the silence continued to grow Steve began thinking about all the ‘what ifs’. What if Billy had told someone about the other night? What if the kids knew that he had failed? What if Billy told someone about his dad? What if his dad found out Billy knew? Did Billy now think even less of him? What if.. Billy’s voice startled Steve from his thoughts 

“I can hear you struggling to think from all the way over here” he smirked. Steve huffed in false offense. Moving closer to Billy’s car Steve glanced up at the other boy and held his gaze. Steve had about got the nerve to say something when Billy beat him to it. 

“I know you’re thinking about the other night” Billy stated. 

Steve froze, pulling another long drag from his cigarette.  
“Well just so you know, I haven’t nor will I tell anyone about that little bombshell you dropped on me the other night”. 

“Oh that’s… I wasn’t…” Steve mumbled out. The thing is Steve really believed him; a portion of the weight had lifted off of Steve’s chest.

“Thanks. I haven’t really ever told anyone that before. I don’t really know why I told you if I’m being honest.” Steve confessed. Billy nodded, flicked his cigarette, and looked to the entrance of the arcade. “Not even our old pal Tommy?” Billy joked lightly. 

“Oh no. God no. Tommy couldn’t keep a secret even if his life depended on it” he blurted out. Billy chuckled beside him in agreement. 

“So then why did you?” Billy asked.

“I don’t know, I guess I just felt like after all this shit and what you saw the other night you already knew most of my big secrets anyways, so why not go ahead and give it all away? Plus I had just got the shit beat out of me for the third time in 72 hours so I wasn’t necessarily thinking straight”

“Yeah you really got to work on that, I mean so far you’re 0-5” Billy teased and turned until he was directly square with Steve.

“For what it's worth you’re probably not to blame for whatever happened to your little sister”

Steve looked down and shook his head. “You don’t know what happened; if you did you wouldn’t say that” 

“Well then tell me. Tell me so I can make my own opinion”

Steve shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot and he traced the cracks in the pavement. 

“You don’t have to, I didn’t mean.. I shouldn’t have pushed” Billy apologized.

“I moved to Hawkins in the 8th grade. Before, we lived in this town a few hours or so away from here. My sister had this rock collection in her room. I mean a massive one, there were rocks placed and stacked on all her shelves that lined her room, and every day during the summer I would walk with Amy down to the river so that she could pick up rocks to add to her collection. She’d paint them and give them all names”

Steve paused looking over at Billy who stood there quietly listening 

“One day Amy asked me if we could go down to the river to look for some more, we had already been that day, but she claimed that one of the rocks didn’t have enough friends and she didn’t want them to be lonely. I told her no, that we’d have to go later, I mean we had already walked down there that day and my dad had left me this list of stuff he wanted me to get done before he came home that night and I was rushing to try to accomplish it. I continued working until I got the list done… I finished sooner than I thought so I decided that I would get Amy and we could go on down to the river for a few minutes before our parents got home, I looked all over the house and I couldn’t find her. I started to panic and I ran through our entire neighborhood just screaming her name. I guess she had decided that she would let me do what I was doing and to find the rocks by herself.” Steve choked the last part out. Clearing his throat and he began to feel tears fill his eyes. 

“We think that she leaned a little too far to reach for rock, ended up falling in and hitting her head”. They uh.. found her body two days later a little bit down the river. 

For a moment all that could be heard was Steve labored breathing and the occasional sniffle as he wiped his nose on the sleeve of his jacket. Billy blinked, slowly processing everything that Steve had just said. 

“Steve. You can’t blame yourself for what happened to her. There was no way for you to know that any of that was going to happen.” 

Steve shook his head “It doesn’t matter I should’ve, I should’ve “

“Okay. Well from what I heard all of this Upside Down stuff started with a late-night nerd game and the little Byers kid riding home. Do you blame him and how he decided to get home for all of this BS happening?”

“Well no, but it’s different.”

“How? Tell me, how is that different? He didn’t know what was waiting out in those woods, just like you didn’t know that your sister was going to wander off that day, you couldn’t have known. So Steve how is that your fault?” 

“I guess… I guess I couldn’t have known. Still doesn’t change the fact that I should’ve been watching her. It was my job to watch her.”

“Is that you or your father talking?”

Once again silence filled the space between them as Steve pondered Billy’s latest question. 

“My dads I guess” Steve responded.

“Yeah. It’s not a child’s responsibility to parent or play caregiver. Your dads wrong……about a lot” 

Steve huffed out a big gust of air as he stood up straighter and rolled his shoulders back. Sensing they were now in agreement and leaving that part of the conversation, Billy started asking questions about the little girl he had learned about.   
For the next 30 minutes, Billy sat there and listened to Steve talk on and on about his little sister. He listened as Steve told him how Am loved to stay up and look and the stars, about how her shampoo always made her hair smell of strawberries and her favorite color was yellow because it matched the sun.   
After the kids exited the arcade and said their goodbyes the two older boys went their separate ways dropping off the children at their houses. When Steve got home, he pulled into his driveway, and for the first time in nearly seven years as the star shined brightly up above Steve entered his empty house without an empty feeling in his chest.

\-----Finish------


End file.
